Two Sets of Paws
by Quidditchexpert
Summary: "Promise you'll always remember me?" "Always." Nala and her mother have left Pride Rock in search of a better life, as the hyena's have taken over. But when Simba becomes the new young Lion King, they come back to the home they once loved.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hello! So, I've decided to start this story, as I watched The Lion King the other day, for the first time since I was little, and fell in love all over again. It will be centred around Simba and Nala, the first part of this chapter being in Nala's POV. But for my idea to work, in this fanfiction, Scar has died in the stampede, along with Mufasa, therefore never being there to tell Simba to run away. But don't worry, he will meet Timon and Pumbaa in the end, whether it being by running away after all, or through some other way, You'll just have to wait and see.

**Disclaimer:** Do I own the Lion King? Alas, I do not, no matter what I wish. Am I making any sort of profit whatsoever from writing this fanfiction? Again, no. I am merely writing it because the idea popped into my head whilst I was on the toilet, and for the enjoyment of myself, and hopefully, others. All copyright goes to The Walt Disney company, Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton. *sigh*

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Chapter 1 - "The Art of a Lion"

"Do we have to go?" Nala whispered to her mother.

Sarafina sighed. "Yes. We mustn't stay here any longer."

"But why not?" asked Nala desperately. "I don't want to leave; I have friends here; this is my home!"

"You know why Nala. The hyena's are taking over. There is no King."

Nala squared her shoulders defiantly. "We can take 'em! Hyena's. Hah! They have to be the stupidest animals in the universe. And Simba is prince! He'll be King!"

Sarafina shook her head sadly. "It's not all that easy, Nala. Life isn't a game. Most of us can take them easily, yes, but a big group of them, no. And unfortunately, Simba is much to young to be King yet. It's a big responsibility. And Scar is—Scar is gone. There is no one left but Simba to take the throne. And he is much too young. I am not prepared to wait."

Nala's shoulders slumped. "I—I guess so."

Sarafina nodded. "We leave tomorrow. At dawn."

(_Sweetness and Spices_)

Nala opened her eyes blearily, peering at her mother. She slowly wriggled from her grip, carefully. There was a particularly tense moment when her mother rolled over, and almost knocked the wind out of her, but otherwise, everything went smoothly.

She set off up the cliffs, running as fast as she could to her destination. Simba's cave. She crept inside, careful not to wake Simba's mother, Sarabi.  
She prodded him with a paw.

"Simba," she whispered. "Simba!"

He turned, emitting a particularly loud groan. Startled, Nala looked towards Sarabi, but she slept soundly.

"Mmm?" Simba groggily opened his eyes. "Nala? What are you _doing_?"

"Just get up," she said sharply. "Come on!"

Seeing the serious look in his friend's usually, mischievous face, he got up carefully evading Sarabi's paws, stretched, and followed Nala outside.  
She continued to lead him up the grassy plains, beginning to run. After the two cubs had been running for around five minutes, she slowed to a stop.  
Simba opened his mouth to ask Nala why she had woken him up at a time no lion should be woken, why she had brought him here, and why she looked so depressed. He wanted to know, and he wanted to know _now_.  
But she held up a paw to stop him. He huffed, clearly annoyed.

"Nala, what are we _doing_?"

Nala opened her mouth. She closed it again. She looked at Simba, and then at the ground. Simba frowned, wondering what made his usually outgoing friend so uneasy.

"I—I'm going away!" she blurted out suddenly.

Simba gaped at her. "What?"

"I—I'm not going to live in Pride Rock anymore," Nala whispered.

"But why?"

"Because...the hyena's are taking over. And—and there's no King. You're too young to be King yet. Mom says we can't wait."

Simba puffed out his chest defiantly. "Hyena's? Yeah right! We can take 'em! And who care's if there's no King? When I'm be old enough, I'll be King!"

Nala sighed. "I know. We can fight the hyena's on their own. Just—just not in a large group. And if the hyena's are taking over...that means—it means no food."

Simba simply gaped at the ground for a moment, breathing shallowly. Then his face lit up.

"Nala! I have an idea!"

"What?" she asked eagerly. Did Simba know a way to get them out of this mess? Did his father tell him something important before he died? Surely it had to be something good, as Simba just looked so _happy_. He was practically radiating waves of happiness from his fur.

"We could run away!"

Nala's face fell. They couldn't do that. Of course they couldn't. Her mother, Sarafina, would be heartbroken, as would Simba's, maybe even more so, as she had lost her husband barely two weeks before. And what about food? Her mother hadn't finished giving her hunting lessons yet. They'd never survive.  
Yet, she didn't know how to say this to Simba. She hadn't seen him look so happy, or pleased with himself since his father had died. He had been walking around like a zombie the past two weeks, severely depressed.

"I—we can't do that Simba," she said softly.

His face fell instantly. He looked sorrowful, even disappointed.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because—well...what about our mothers'? And—and food! We'd starve Simba! And anyways," she continued quietly,"your dad wouldn't have wanted it."

Her friend's face hardened instantly, as it always did when someone mentioned his father. Nala somehow thought that he had gotten the idea into his head that it was his fault. He hadn't really talked about it to anyone, except maybe his mother, and even Nala doubted that he went into any sort of detail. He didn't say anything for a moment. Nala, finding the silence unbearable, broke it.

"Simba?" she said cautiously. "Are you...are you okay?"

He blinked, looking up. "How would you know?" he said in a loud voice, startling Nala. "How would you know what _he_ would have wanted?" His voice shook slightly. "I'm his _son_, aren't I? I should know, shouldn't I? Not you. Not...not you."

Nala swallowed, shocked. "I know that Simba. I—I understand..."

"No, you don't. You really don't. Because—because I've done something terrible Nala. It's _all_ my fault."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

He looked at her with eyes filled with sorrow.

"It's my fault he's dead."

She simply gaped at him for a moment. "How could you say that? Of course it's not! You couldn't have done nothin' to stop it! Could—could you?"

He looked at the grass for a moment. "He died saving me. It was a stampede. I thought—I thought that he had a surprise for me. That's what uncle Scar said. He told me to wait on this rock. And then there was a stampede, and he came to save me. He did, but fell down over the cliff into the stampede," said Simba, in a bit of a rush. "If it wasn't for me...if it wasn't for me—"

But Nala cut him off. "It wasn't your fault," she said sharply. "You know it wasn't. You had no way of knowing..."

Simba pressed his lips into a thin line. "Yeah, well...it's still my fault. And I just thought...now that you're going away...well, we could just go. Because you don't want to go." He looked up. "Do you?"

Nala shook her head fiercely. "No way. I bet I'll hate it. To wherever I'm going. I wish I could stay."

Simba looked away. "Yeah."

Nala looked out onto the horizon. "I better go. Mom will be waking up soon. We're leaving at dawn."

Simba looked back at her. "Promise you'll always remember me?"

She grinned. "Always. And don't you go forgetting me either!"

Simba grinned back. "No way, Nala. You know I won't. You're my best friend."

He inched his paw closer to her, and she put hers on top of his. "Friends forever?" she breathed.

"Forever."

"I'll come back, y'know. Someday."

"I know."

They both looked down at the ground, until Nala dived into the air, and flipped Simba onto his back.

"Pinned ya."

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**A/N: **It was a little bit short, but never mind that, for now at least. Did you like it? I know I'll probably get no reviews, but if you want to give a little feedback, I definitely wouldn't protest...  
Next chapter as soon as possible, hopefully. Cookies and brownies,

~Quidditch xx


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **In the third part of this chapter, Simba is a teenager. (In the first part, he's a cub, and so is Nala) There is quite a time skip, as in the last chapter he was just a cub.  
And thank you to simba fangirl and Riana for reviewing! And yes, Nala is bethrothed to Simba, but it doesn't mean she can't leave. She and her mother were always going to go back to Pride Rock, as Simba would become King sooner or later. Thanks to Wiechcheu1925 for following, and srihari for favouriting =]

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Chapter 2 - "Failures of Courage"

Simba and Corryn sat in silence. Suddenly, Simba brightened.

"Hey, wanna play a game of pretend? We can be spies! We could spy on the hyena's—"

Corryn's brown eyes widened. "The hyena's? What if they attack us?"

"They won't," said Simba confidently. "Remember, our Mom's hunt for them, and my Mom is head of the hunting group. They wouldn't dare attack us. And besides, we're _spies_, aren't we? It's not as if we're going to get caught!" he said scornfully.

Corryn shook her beige head ruefully. "That's a bit silly, Simba. It's really dangerous, and reckless too. Anything could happen."

The male cub let out a huge sigh, not bothering to hide his disappointment.

"Well alright then. We can play a different game. What do you want to play?"

Corryn cocked her head to one side, looking thoughtful. "What about tag?"

"Bo—oring."

She narrowed her eyes reproachfully. "Well then you think of something to play, Mr. High and mighty!"

He rolled his eyes. "Okay then." He thought for a moment.

"Hey, we could go up to the plains and make a den! No one would find us there! It could be a secret hideout," he said mysteriously.

Before the other cub even said anything, Simba knew it was a lost cause.

She shook her head prissily. "I don't think so. What if my Mom can't find me? What if she needs me?"

"We'll come back later, obviously."

She shook her head again. "No. I don't want to. It'd be boring anyway," she said smugly.

Simba turned away. "Killjoy," he muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

* * *

"Go on," nudged Sarafina. She prodded her daughter towards the group of cubs slightly ahead of them. It had been near a week since they had arrived at the Areli pride of lions.

Nala shook her head. "I don't want to."

"Why ever not?"

"Because they won't like me. I just—I want to go_ home_."

Sarafina sighed. "I know, Nala. I feel the same. But unless the hyena's retreat, or we have a new King, we can't go anywhere."

Nala slumped her shoulders. "I know."

"Now go on."

With a last look at her mother, Nala walked towards the group of cubs, slowly falling into step with them.

One, a male cub, looked at her interestedly. "Who are _you_?"

"I'm Nala," said Nala defiantly. "I've come to live here."

"Oh. Why?"

"Because my home was taken over by the hyena's."

"Oh. Where do you come from?"

"Pride Rock," she said proudly.

"Oh."

"Is that _all_ you say?" she asked, irritated. "_Oh_?"

The male cub sneered at her. "No. And you come from Pride Rock? Didn't your King, Mufasa, kill himself a few weeks ago?"

Nala growled at him angrily. "_No_. He died in a stampede, trying to save his son. He gave up his life for Simba. So you just shut your mouth, right?"

The other lion growled at her. "No, I won't, little miss sassy. You shut _your_ mouth, or you'll be in big trouble."

"Oh yeah?" Nala challenged.

"Yeah!"

"Wow, wow, wow, break it up new girl."

Nala glared fiercely at a female cub, with caramel coloured eyes. But the cub just grinned, and fell into step beside her, pushing the male out of the way.

"Don't be minding Kesar. He's a bit of an idiot."

"Oi!"

"Oh hush," said the female dismissively. She turned back to Nala. "I'm Lea."

"Nala."

"Okay," Lea grinned. "Well, what was Pride Rock like then? You'll have to tell me all about it. I've never really travelled before."

Nala grinned back. "Oh, it's really great," she began. "The best place in the world..."

* * *

"I—I _can_'_t_," said Simba, pacing up and down, his mane swishing.

"Don't be stupid," said Zazu, flying above his head, blue wings going everywhere. "Of course you can! Everyone is waiting! Rafiki is waiting! You're due to go out for the coronation in a few minutes!"

Simba sighed. "You don't understand, Zazu. I just—I just can't!"

"What do you mean you 'can't'?" cried Zazu exasperatedly. "I repeat: Of course you can! You have to! It is your duty to Pride Rock! You will be their King!"

Simba searched desperately for an excuse. "I—I'm too young! Yeah, I'm much too young Zazu!" he said, holding onto the pathetic excuse.

Zazu shook his head. "I admit, you are much younger than your father when he became King, but this is under different circumstances. The people _need_ you. They need you Simba. And badly. Just do what we practised."

Simba shook his head. Despite his goings ons when he was a cub, he didn't want to become King. Not yet. He wasn't ready. It turned out that the excuse he came up with wasn't so pathetic after all. He _was_ much too young. He couldn't do this. He wasn't cut out to be King. A King was supposed to be able to maintain control. He was supposed to know what to do. But him? He didn't have a clue. He turned back to the bird that would soon become his secretary.

"Don't you understand?" he asked desperately. "I'm not my father! No matter how much I may look like him, I'm not him! I don't know _how_ to be King! I can't take things into control like he could! I'm not wise, I'm not calm, I'm not any one of the things I should be! I haven't got a clue," he said bitterly.

Zazu looked at the young prince pityingly. "It'll be okay, Simba. When the time comes, you'll know what to do. Besides, the people—"

"Need me," finished Simba with tight lips. "Yeah, yeah, I know all that already Zazu, no need to fill me in. But what do they think I'm going to do about anything? Why should they think I _can_? Do they think I'll be able to drive the hyena's away single-handedly? Magically find food to feed everyone? Deal with all—all _this_? Because I can't! If I could, I would, but I can't! King, or no King, I'm still _one_ lion. One clueless, young lion, who watches everything going on around him, and hates it! Hates that he can't change it, or do something about it! And hates it even more that the people expect him to, because they'll be let down. He's one lion who doesn't know what to do, for the people, or for anyone! And he can't deal with it."

Zazu, shocked, said nothing, but Simba understood. He shook his head, and looked up to the stars, praying for his father to help him. Help him out of this mess.  
And then, my friends, he went out to face his destiny. And as his destiny greeted him, and the animals of pride rock cheered, and the hyena's sneered, that was the moment that he believed it. That he knew.  
He didn't stand a chance.

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**A/N: **I felt like this chapter was a bit rushed, even though I took my time writing it...well, tell me what you think anyway x  
If you have any questions, just ask me x


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